Underground Explorers

The Palouse prairie of Washington (USA) is an endangered habitat, where less than 1% of the habitat remains due to land conversion. Restoration of the Palouse prairie may require reintroduction of plant and fungal species, if native fungi have been disrupted by non-native plants. Some late-successional native plants of conservation interest have high reliance on native arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. However, the establishment of fungi and plants may depend on whether roots are pre-colonized with fungi prior to transplanting into field plots or inoculated at the time of planting. In this study, we will evaluate the impact of pre-colonization with soil fungi from a remnant prairie on fungal and plant establishment. The native plant, Silene spaldingii (Threatened), was grown in a greenhouse with or without soil from a remnant prairie. Uninoculated plants were inoculated during transplanting into field plots. I will compare 1) the community structure of soil fungi in the remnant prairie and the restoration area prior to, and one year after, restoration (SSU, ITS2), 2) the growth of S. spaldingii and 3) development of seeded plant communities. This work will provide insights into how pre-colonization with native fungi influences the establishment of fungi and plants in restored grasslands.